Heartbreaking photo of elderly Canadian forced to live apart after 62 years of marriage

12 months ago

3 min read

A touching photo of an elderly Canadian couple who have been married for 62 years and are now forced to live in separate care homes went viral after their granddaughter shared their story on Facebook.

The photo of Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and his wife, Anita, 81, shows the couple wiping away tears as they held hands during one of Anita’s visit at a transitional facility in British Columbia, Canad, while they are waiting for Wolf to be be accommodated at Anita’s nursing home. The image has been shared more than 10,000 times.

Ashley Baryik, 29 said her grandparents have been separated because there is no room for both of them at the same home in Surrey, British Columbia. Mr Gottschalk, who has been diagnosed with lymphoma, is on a waiting list to move into the same home as his wife.

‘It was the saddest photo I have ever taken” Baryik wrote on Tuesday. She explained that her grandparents were separated in January when Mr Gottschalk went to hospital for congestive heart failure.

“Friends please read! This is The saddest photo I have ever taken. This is my Omi and my Opi. As you can see they are both wiping away tears! But why? It was taken in Surrey at Yale road, a transitional facility for people waiting to get into nursing homes, that’s where my Opi is! After 62 years together in marriage they have been separated for 8 months due to backlogs and delays by our health care system, whom have the power to have my grandpa moved to the same care facility as my grandmother. They cry every time they see each other, and it is heartbreaking. To make it worse, TODAY he was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Besides that limiting his time and making this more urgent, His Dementia is growing ever stronger each day, but his memory of my grandmother has not faded a inch…yet. We are afraid however that if they are living apart much longer, his memory of her won’t stay. This has been a strain on our family, making the 30 minute commute to bring her to see him, every second day, so he does not forget her. Now with the news of cancer, our fight to have them in the same facility is even more urgent. He isn’t even getting proper care where he is, including no physical therapy which we were promised (the only reason he is in a wheelchair is because it has been 8 months of no walking!!) They deserve this! Financially, physically and emotionally exhausted, me and my family are begging for your help my friends. We have contacted our local MLA, called Fraser Health and done in person inquiries, but none of our questions and concerns have been answered. We want justice for my grandparents who after 62 years together deserve to spend their last moments in the same building. Please share this and tag anyone that needs to see this post to get the help we need! @fraserhealthauthori”